Monday, May 30, 2011

Camp of Champions had their airbag set-up in Whistler this weekend. Banshee rider Alan Hepburn was on hand with some tips for the kids & some tricks for the cameras. Thanks to Ken from Camp of Champs for the video.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

For the first time since 2005, Germany's most prestigious and, as many claim, best downhill track (finally!) Todtnau returned to the international racing scene by hosting the second round of the European Downhill Cup. I wasn't quite sure what to expect of this race. The only races I've been to in the past were some smaller, local races and the iXS Dirtmasters race in Winterberg as well as the Wheels of Speed-Race in Willingen which arguably are two very unique races. And even though I've been to Todtnau several times in the past months - it's got to be my favourite DH track on this side of the Atlantic Ocean -, I was quite nervous on our way down to Todtnau.

Welcome to Todtnau!

My brother Joz and I loaded up the car and took off early Wednesday morning to get a few more practice runs in before the racers from all over the world arrived. The track was in prime condition and was extremely fun to ride as usual. The course starts with a smallish drop leading into a rather technical corner before you hit the first high speed section which is littered with some good-sized jumps and road gaps. This section is followed by the first pedalling bit and a very rooty section. Then you're off into a very high speed, rough section with some berms and jumps before entering a very long and flowy section through the woods which is quite technical in some places and extremely fun to ride. Usually the track ends here but the race organizers decided to add a grassy, off camber-section after leaving the woods, which lead right into a brutal, slightly uphill pedal-fest before crossing the finish line. In total, the track is close to 3km long and very difficult to ride. On the one hand it's very fast and rough in most places but there also are some very exhausting pedalling bits. Therefore one could easily mess up his race run by pedalling too hard and then not being able to control the bike through the technical bits and vice-versa.

Practice on Friday went surprisingly well and trouble-free. The pace was great and we managed to hit some lines that we hadn't even seen before. You could definitely tell that everyone was taking it quite easy since nobody wanted to be too exhausted for their race run come Sunday. After practice was done, we hiked up again to watch the Pros practice on course and we were definitely blown away by some of the riding... definitely very inspirational. We also met Banshee World Cup rider Matej Charvat and talked to him for a while. He was looking great on track and proved to be very nice and easy to get along with off the track.

Prepping the Legends...

Come Saturday, we got up early to get our two mandatory practice runs in. Again, everything was going very well. Our Legends felt right at home in the rough stuff and both Joz and I were really comfortable with the track. We decided to take a closer look at two or three sections to discuss our line choices for our upcoming seeding run but apart from that, everything was quite dialled. After a healthy lunch, we went back up again to do our seeding run. I had a minor little crash in the very first turn which cost me a bit of time and I also decided to walk the uphill bit so I was pleasently surprised to find out that I qualified in 23rd position despite saving a lot of energy. Joz rode very well and qualified in 14th place out of around 65 riders, so both of us were very pleaed with how our seeding runs went.

For some reason though, Sunday simply was one of these days were nothing quite works the way you want it to work. I felt horrible during the morning practice, riding all over the place and not hitting any of my lines. In addition to that, I flatted my rear tire once again and managed to bang up my rear wheel pretty badly so I decided to call it a day and rest until my finals run. Joz was once again feeling great on track and riding very fast yet controlled at the same time, so he was quite confident for his finals run.

Possibly the best berm in the world? / credit: www.traildiaries.de

When I was standing on the start line, I felt surprisingly calm and relaxed, unlike during the morning practice session. Right when I left the start hut, everything was going very well and I was hitting all the lines that I was planning on hitting while riding notably faster than during my qualifier. I also managed to hit some lines that I hadn't attempted before so everything was going great until I went down in what was propably the easiest turn on the entire track. My front tire must have washed out underneath me or something like that - I didn't even have time to react so I went down into the ground with my head first. My visor was broken so I couldn't see anything for the first few seconds and I had to run up the hill to grab my bike. Luckily my helmet and neck brace absorbed most of the impact. I was lucky that I was able to get back on my bike again but obviously I knew that my race run was pretty much over. In the end I was quite surprised to find out that my finals time was just half a second off my qualifier despite the big crash and consequently keeping it rather mellow down the rest of the track, finishing in 31th position. Joz managed to hold it together during his race run and not make any major mistakes. He knocked a couple seconds off his qualifier and finished in 18th place with a 4:38 which he was very happy with.

After our race runs, we loaded up the car and watched the Pros tackle the last bit of the course. Track favourite and local hero Marcus Klausmann, who qualified 6 seconds ahead of everyone and looked visibly faster than the rest of the field managed to rip his rear derailleur off his bike so the race was over for him. In the end, Brook Macdonald took the victory a few seconds ahead of Nick Beer and Joshua Button.

Joz on his way to a great Top-20-finish / credit: www.traildiaries.de

Looking back at the race now a few days later, I'm still pretty bummed about the way my race run went but that's racing I guess. If anything, crashing in my race run should be a motivation to be a bit more focused during my race run in Winterberg next week. All in all, I'm quite happy with how the weekend went though. The riding was great, the course and the entire event was awesome and we got to spend a lot of time with a bunch of friends riding and racing our bikes. I guess you couldn't ask for anything more, right?

We should have a bunch of pictures posted up on www.zimbros.de very soon. In the meantime, our good friends Peter and Rizzo took a bunch of awesome pictures of the race and uploaded them onto www.traildiaries.de, so take a few minutes and check them out.

Saturday, May 21, 2011

I thought last years Legend was sexy...then I unwrapped a 2011 Polished one. This Legend is built up exactly the same as my 2010, Manitou Dorado up front with a Revox in the rear. Can't wait to shred this thing this year, i think it is going to be fast...real fast!

Friday, May 20, 2011

I often wonder what it would be like living in Vancouver or somewhere in the Alps. Well, to be a bit more precise, I often wonder how rad it would be living in one of those areas when it comes to riding proper downhill trails. But the thing is that I'm stuck in the middle of Germany and there aren't any big mountains anywhere around here. It's not all that bad though. As a matter of fact, there are some very nice trails around here so I guess I shouldn't complain.

Winterberg is a remote little town in the middle of Germany, surrounded by nothing but even smaller towns and some mountains (or should I say hills?). There isn't much elevation at all, especially when compared to places such as Whistler or Porte du Soleil, yet Winterberg is very well-known for its rad bike park.

First and foremost, Winterberg features what has to be the biggest and best slopestyle course of Europe, but as a matter of fact, there also are some very neat and fun downhill tracks. In all fairness, they aren't exactly what you would call really steep or extremely technical and it takes you less than two minutes to get from top to bottom - but riding those trails is a ton of fun. And this is what counts, right?

Last weekend, my brother Joz and I travelled to Winterberg to check out the new Downhill tracks. The trail crew has been quite busy during the past few months with building some new trails. The new trails are great actually. One of the new trails - which will also be the race course for the upcoming iXS German DH Cup - is very fast with some technical bits and several big jumps. In addition to that, there's another new trail, simply called the "single trail". This trail is as natural as it can get, with lots of off camber-sections, some tight switchbacks and some very steep bits every now and then.

To cut a long story short, Winterberg proves that you actually don't need that much elevation in order to build trails that are extremely fun to ride. Of course I'd prefer to have some epic, 30-minute-descents instead but for now, I'm really glad that places such as Winterberg offer some of the best riding around.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

About two months ago, I put a foot down weird on a sketchy 360 and broke the third metatarsal in my right foot. Thankfully, my recovery was smooth and painless, with constant entertainment and good times that my friends and family brought! Not to mention, I got a killer cast-tan out of it! I got cleared to start easing into riding two weeks ago, so I spent a week building up strength riding cross country, and started jumping the week after. I’ve been collecting GoPro footage along the way, with some clips during my recovery, my x-rays, a bit of cross country riding, and finally jumping and downhilling again! It feels absolutely unreal to start riding again and I couldn’t be happier! Enjoy!

WHISTLER, BC May 17, 2011 – With a whopping $25,000 on the line for first place, Kokanee Crankworx will be ensuring the best of the best are on course for the inaugural Red Bull Joyride event July 23, 2011. Kokanee Crankworx’s slopestyle event has long been considered the most prestigious event of its kind in the world. A new partnership between Kokanee Crankworx and Red Bull will next level the competition with a complete course redesign and the biggest prize purse in freeride mountain biking.

“We have developed a new invitation format that will ensure the best athletes are here in Whistler to compete in Red Bull Joyride,” says Darren Kinnaird, Kokanee Crankworx General Manager. “Invitations have gone out to athletes based on their performance at previous Crankworx Slopestyles, and how they fared in the FMBA World Tour 2010.”

Here are the invited athletes so far with another ten athletes to be determined by July 4:

Brandon Semenuk

Cameron Zink

Mike Montgomery

Casey Groves

Greg Watts

Martin Soderstrom

Andreu Lacondeguy

Lance McDermott

Sam Dueck

Kelly McGarry

Yannick Granieri

Jack Fogelquist

Amir Kabbani

Darren Berrecloth

Sam Pilgrim

Teva Best Trick Showdown and Red Bull Joyride Invitation Format

Below is the criteria used to determine the 15 athlete invitations issued already, for participation in the Teva Best Trick Showdown and the Red Bull Joyride Qualifying event on July 21:

The past winner of Crankworx Colorado Slopestyle will receive a three year automatic invite to Kokanee Crankworx (Brandon Semenuk, winner in 2009 and 2010)

The following is the criteria that will be used to determine the remaining 10 athlete invitations, for participation in the Teva Best Trick Showdown and the Red Bull Joyride Qualifying event on July 21:

The top six ranked athletes from the FMBA 2011 rankings after July 3, 2011

Winner of the Teva Mountain Games Slopestyle on June 2-5, 2011, or the highest previously unqualified athlete

There is the potential to have two to four Wildcard spots available depending on results, to be announced by July 4, 2011.

Red Bull Joyride Qualifying Format:

A total of ten athletes will be automatically qualified for Red Bull Joyride on Saturday July 23 and won’t have to participate in the two full course qualifying runs July 21, based on the following criteria:

Top four athletes from the 2010 FMBA overall ranking (or highest previously unqualified athletes - Semenuk, Berrecloth, Soderstrom, Pilgrim). In subsequent years, if Kokanee Crankworx takes place in August, this will be based on current year ranking).

An additional six athletes will be qualified based on the results of two full-course runs on July 21, limited to the 15 athletes that are not pre-qualified for Red Bull Joyride. Red Bull Joyride judges will observe both the Teva Best Trick Showdown contest and the two full-course qualifying runs. Riders will be ranked based on overall performance of both Teva Best Trick Showdown and the qualifying runs to select six athletes to advance and join the ten pre-qualified riders for Red Bull Joyride on Saturday, July 23.

“With Red Bull on board and the stakes super high with $25,000 on the line for first place, Kokanee Crankworx will crown the best freeride mountain biker in the world on July 23, 2011,” says Kinnaird. “We are unbelievably pumped and are counting down the days to witness the next level of mountain biking here in Whistler.”

First place will take home $25,000, second $10,000, third $5,000, fourth $3,500 and fifth $1,500. Watch the first of an exclusive video series from Red Bull detailing the conception of the Joyride course design here: www.redbull.ca/Joyride.

The eighth annual Kokanee Crankworx is presented by Whistler Blackcomb and the Whistler Mountain Bike Park. Kokanee Crankworx is the biggest annual event held in Whistler and is also the largest freeride mountain bike festival in the world. Each year the best amateur and professional freeride, downhill and slopestyle mountain bike athletes gather for a nine-day, non-stop barrage of competition and celebration. Whistler has the world’s most diverse offering of mountain biking terrain, including 150 miles of single-track trails, 5,000 vertical feet of lift-accessed downhill runs in the Whistler Mountain Bike Park, jump parks and 20+ miles of paved Valley Trail.

Win Ultimate Summer Of Freeride Including Cash, Accommodation And Season Pass At Six BC Bike Parks

VANCOUVER, BC May 17, 2011 – Mountain bikers worldwide are advised to keep the following dates in their calendar clear to ensure they are available for British Columbia’s best lift-accessed exhilaration at the following bike parks on their 2011 opening days.

Whistler Mountain Bike Park: Opens May 20

The Whistler Mountain Bike Park has confirmed their signature trail A-Line, and rider favourite Crank It Up, will be open for their opening day on May 20. Despite the second snowiest season in the resort’s history, the Whistler Mountain Bike Park will be the first bike park in British Columbia to open.

Fernie Alpine Resort Bike Park: Opens June 25

Fernie’s bike park will be featuring new bridgework on their epic trail Aggravated Assault as well as trail upgrades to Top Gun and the Skills Park.

Sun Peaks invites riders to take their skills to the next level with the Sun Peaks Freeride Camp July 4-8. Coached by pro riders Matt Hunter and Graham Agassiz along with Kamloops shreds Justin Terwiel and Dylan Sherrad.

Panorama Bike Park: Opens June 25-26 / full season opening July 1

Renowned for technical singletrack with natural features and expert trails with large man-made features, Panorama’s newly developed play area in the bike park features small jumps and rolls as well as some wooden features for beginners and kids.

Mount Washington Bike Park: Opens July 1

Mount Washington’s experienced trail builders have created a mountain bike playground in the heart of Vancouver Island.

Experience it all with Bike Parks BC Ultimate Summer of Freeride contest. In exchange for one little sentence, the winner will ride away with a season pass at six of BC’s best lift-accessed bike parks, $1,000 spending money, two nights accommodation at each resort, DH rig rentals, a half-day with a guide and two lift tickets at each park for the winner’s riding buddy to be used over the 2011 summer season.

Riders are asked to answer the question, “What would you blow off to win the ultimate summer of freeride?” Tell Bike Parks BC now for a chance to ride away with the Ultimate Summer of Freeride.

Enter now and for more information and official contest rules and regulations about Bike Parks BC “Ultimate Summer of Free Ride” contest check out www.bikeparksbc.com. Don't forget to “like” www.facebook.com/bikeparksbc and follow @bikeparksbc on Twitter for all the latest news.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

If you know me personally you will know that for the last 10 months I have been with out a big bike. Its been horrible.

It died like many other bikes out in Morzine last summer, and with one thing and another its taken until now to get another one out on the tracks.

The bike in question is a 2011 Banshee Rune in team red, and I for one think its stunning.

I have always had DH bike, ridden mainly DH, but also ride a fair bit of XC...so wanted a bike that could do everything, but was better at going down hills than up them, and this bike ticked all the boxes.

Saturday, May 14, 2011

This past weekend the first race of the season was held in Rold forest which was the first of 6 rounds. The track is pretty basic with some jumps and berms mixed up with the super loose ground after a few weeks of sunny weather. 222Racing (Bo Andersen and Sebastian Jensen) and 222Freeride (Kasper Nancke and Bjarke Pedersen) meet up saturday for practise.

Bjarke Pedersen sending it into a berm.

Saturday practise was good and we all got the dry course dialled in. I was trying out a pair of Maxxis Minion EXO´s since the course isn´t that rough so I would save a bit of weight and time in the end hopefully. Everybody was having fun and catching up after the winter break. Since we do no have any seeding in the Danish DH cup, practise on saturday is always chilled.

Bo Andersen on the logride.

On race day the track was rolling fast and was getting quite loose after the practise on saturday. So we got our bikes and geared up and headed up for one hour of practise before the first runs started. We all got a few runs in which we felt good about and was fairly confident on the course.

Sebastian Jensen in practise.

First up was Kasper who rode a decent run with a few mistakes and ended up in 19th spot with a 1.05,94. Next up was Bjarke on his Scythe who posted a 1.00,01, which he was happy with. Bjarke got a 4th which is quite solid. Last up was myself. My run went well I hit all my lines and I pedaled hard on the flat course. I posted a 56,93 which was the fastest time of the day and therefore good enough for 1st, winning with .4 of a second.

All in all it was a good weekend with happy people and a good vibe. The Banshee Legends and the Scythe was running good all weekend teamed up with the Marzocchi 888´s and the Roco shocks. We also got the chance to flash our new Sombrio kits and the new TLD lids and gloves. also a huge thanks to our other sponsors: Banshee Bikes - Halo wheels - Maxxis Tires - Marzocchi.com - Acros and SRAM!!

All of the pictures are taken by Andreas Gudum.

Next weekend 222Racing is going to Winterberg and Willingen in Germany so stay tuned!

Monday, May 9, 2011

Have wanted to post this since February when I did the illustration but waited for the magazine to be printed. Looks okay in the magazine but at a half page it doesn't quite capture the hugeness of Mike Montgomery. He's kind of a big deal.

Saturday, May 7, 2011

In pretty much a landslide victory Mike Montgomery has won the Pinkbike Best Trick Throwdown at Ranchstyle in Colorado with 353 votes.

The event took place yesterday at the Grassroots Ranch in Colorado and was filmed by a team of videographers. The video was then posted to Pinkbike where viewers had the opportunity to vote for a winner. Mike's winning trick was a backflip barhop, something that is mostly unseen in mountain bike competition. Greg Watts placed second with 121 votes, he threw down a myriad of tricks including a flip double barspin and no handed 360 to barspin. Third place was Ben Glassen, a relatively unknown rider from Nanaimo BC. His super steezy 360 nac earned him 65 votes, while Eric Lawrenuk's decade (or 360 downside whip to some) earned him fourth place with 47 votes.

For all of Devon's coverage of Ranch Style head over to Pinkbike.com. To vote for best trick click here and you will probably want to vote for Mike ... I am just saying.

This is the best trick video, watch for the goods ... and by good I mean Mike ...Paul Genovese made the trip south from Fernie and threw down some big tricks. I spoke with him last night and he said he flipped the step down, 3'd the drop and did a tail whip in mid pack. Paul has shown before that he can hang with the big boys when he finished 6th at the 2010 Goat Style Jam in Creston.

Several Banshee riders were sporting around for the best trick contest at the Ranchstyle Mountain Bike Festival in Grand Junction Colorado. The Amp was by far the most used bike in the contest. Check the video out here, and cast your vote!

Friday, May 6, 2011

The 2011 Grassroots Ranchstyle event is just heating up. Thursday was practice, Friday is more practice and a best trick contest, Saturday's big show includes the slopestyle event, and Sunday wraps things up with a killer dual slalom race.

Thursday, May 5, 2011

European IXS series kicked off the season in Switzerland – Monte Tamaro. It seems to be the most prestigious European race serie. 300 racers from 16 countries were the indicator of that.

First race of the season is always different feeling. No-one knows how the others are going to ride after the winter break.The track was really difficult, long and challenging what was enhanced by rain on the begining of the weekend. It was my first real wet riding this year, but I felt amazing on Friday. I made some more practice on Saturday before quali and I also felt that I’m fast. I simply did a whole run and finished 3rd (1st Nick Beer, 2nd Marcus Pekoll) in qualification what really motivated me for Sunday. Sunday, the race day was full of sun. The track began to dry a bit, but some slippery rocks came out. I was really confident and I knew that I can do some good result. I rode well with some small mistakes almost the first half of the track, but than a fatal mistake happened. I slipped a bit from my line and hit the rock by my front wheel what catapulted me over the bars. I hit another rock with my head and knee and the race was over for me.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Banshee Team Rider Mike Montgomery is one of the riders who was asked to be involved in helping to redesign (overhaul) the Monster Energy Slopestyle at Kokanee Crankworx. Now that Red Bull is the sponsor for the slopestyle is is now called "Red Bull Joyride". Check it out on Pinkbike and watch the video below ...

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